Olson v. Olson

Syllabus

The defendant, whose marriage to the plaintiff previously had been dissolved pursuant to a foreign judgment of dissolution, appealed to this court from the judgment of the trial court dismissing his motion for modification of alimony for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The parties, who were United States citizens, had been married in Pennsylvania. The parties moved to the United Kingdom, where a court later dissolved the parties' marriage, incorporating the parties' consent order into its final judgment. The consent order provided for the distribution of the parties' property and assets and for the payment of maintenance, including spousal and child support. The parties thereafter moved back to the United States, and the plaintiff filed the United Kingdom divorce decree with the trial court in Connecticut. The plaintiff filed a motion, seeking to enforce the parties' judgment of dissolution and to approve two qualified domestic relations orders, which the trial court granted. Both parties subsequently filed motions for modification of alimony, which the trial court consid- ered but denied on the basis of a failure of supporting evidence and procedural defects in the plaintiff's motion. Thereafter, the defendant filed another motion for modification of alimony on the basis of the plaintiff's cohabitation with a third party. The plaintiff filed her own motion to modify alimony and child support, seeking an increase of both, then filed a motion to dismiss the defendant's motion for modification of alimony for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The court granted the plaintiff's motion to dismiss on the basis of its belief that the United Kingdom had continuing, exclusive jurisdiction over the spousal support order. Specifically, the court, relying on an order of the United Kingdom regarding the reciprocal enforcement of maintenance orders with the United States, concluded that neither party provided it with evidence that the courts of the United Kingdom released